Monday, September 21, 2015

It's not because I don't want to welcome a new member of our family. I can't wait to have newborn snuggles.

It's because my precious time with just my firstborn is coming to an end. It will no longer be just me and Rory going on adventures together. My main concerns during this pregnancy have been how he will cope with that.

I'm not regretting giving him a sibling - he will benefit greatly from learning he is NOT the centre of the universe. I just want to make the most of these remaining days. Sometimes they have been difficult, but they have been precious.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

This is one of those books that stays with you after you've finished it. Up there with Keith Green's biography, it will make comfortable, middle-class Christians go 'ouch'.

As inspiring as it is confronting, The Cross and the Switchblade is the story of an ordinary man - David Wilkerson, a small-town US pastor - who is enabled to do extraordinary things in God's power. One night in 1958, Wilkerson hears about the murder trial of seven teenage boys from New York on the TV; they had been charged with stabbing another boy to death because they felt like it. Wilkerson couldn't shake the feeling that God was leading him to New York to help the boys. While he never got to do that, it was the start of an incredible outreach to gangs in 1960s New York, which eventually led to the development of Teen Challenge. This residential rehabilitation ministry offers hope to those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.

While the book is an amazing testimony to the power of God, there were some parts of the story which didn't sit well with me. Wilkerson 'tests' God's will a lot by laying fleeces, a practice which I also found irksome in Jim Elliot's biography. Also, I disagree with the Pentecostal obsession with speaking in tongues. While trying to get some of the teenagers in his care off drugs, Wilkerson believes they would not be free from addiction or have the Holy Spirit until they spoke in tongues. There is a heavy emphasis on the Spirit setting young people free from loneliness, addiction, anger etc. and while I certainly believe that God heals and restores people's lives, an emphasis on sin being everyone's greatest problem seems to be lacking.

Overall, I think this is a book that must be read. It's so easy to become a comfortable Christian, but God can use anyone. We are all clay in His hands. Let's pray that He uses us as He wishes, no matter how scary that may be, to change people's lives. No-one is in the too-hard basket, no-one is beyond His grace.

Wednesday, September 02, 2015

I had a great time at Dirty Dancing: The Musical back on the 9th August with my dear friend and former housemate, Emma. It has become an annual tradition that we go and see a musical together. Kid-free time and no men whinging that they're bored.....woohoo!

About Me

I had planned to star in an Aussie drama, write novels, live as a suburban yuppie and be married to my Prince Charming. God had other ideas. He surrounded me with Christian friends who introduced me to Jesus. He became my Lord and Saviour when I was 18 and my life has never been the same...it's been more than I'd ever imagined. Now I'm married to my Prince Charming, Duncan, and we live with our two sons on a farm in the middle of nowhere.